A Picture of a Human Bone

Bone Facts for Kids

  • Organ Name: Bone
  • Organ Location: Throughout the body
  • Organ System: Support movement
  • Organ Purpose: Support the body, movement, protection and produce blood cells
  • Organ Weight: About 15% of body weight
  • Organ Count: At birth 270, by adulthood 206

22 Bone Facts for Kids

  1. Bones are rigid organs that make up the human body’s skeletal system.
  2. Bones help protect many vital organs, enable movement, produce both red and white blood cells and support the shape and structure of the human body.
  3. Bones are made up of living tissue that are continuously grow and regenerate.
  4. The human body has 270 bones at birth, but this number decreases to 206 by adulthood.
  5. More than half of all the bones in the human body are in the hands and feet.
  6. The largest bone in the human body is the femur, also known as the thigh bone.
  7. The smallest bone in the human body is stirrup, also known as the stapes.
  8. An adult human skull contains 22 bones, 8 cranial and 14 facial bones.
  9. An adult human has 24 rib bones, 12 on the left side and 12 on the right side.
  10. An adult human hand contains 27 bones.
  11. An adult human foot contains 26 bones.
  12. Bones contain a semi-solid tissue called bone marrow.
  13. Bone marrow is where platelets, red and white blood cells are produced.
  14. Every minute around 120 million red blood cells are created by bone marrow.
  15. Joints are locations in the human body where two or more bones are linked together.
  16. An example of a joint in your body is your elbow, which links the upper and lower parts of the arm together.
  17. The largest joint in the human body is the knee.
  18. The smallest join in the human body is the incudostapedial joint.
  19. The most fragile bones in the human body are toe bones.
  20. The funny bone isn’t a bone, when you hit your elbow a certain way, you’re triggering the ulnar nerve.
  21. Osteoporosis is a common bone disease that is caused by low bone density and bone loss.
  22. The scientific study of bones is called osteology and someone who studies osteology is called an osteologist.

More Human Body Facts

Additional Resources on the Human Bones